Carousell co-founder Lucas Ngoo is stepping down from his day-to-day management role at the Singapore-based classifieds firm and unicorn by the end of February, according to a post on his LinkedIn page.
Ngoo said that he’ll continue to participate as a co-founder and board director, as well as an advisor when needed.
“I believe there is more to learn, hence it is a personal decision of mine to take the chance to have a break to learn new areas of innovation and other industries, such as AI in biotech/healthcare, climate tech/energy transition and Web 3,” Ngoo wrote.
Ngoo served as the company’s chief technology officer since its establishment until 2019 when he was replaced by former Lazada executive Igor Volynskiy. In a media statement back then, Ngoo was said to “continue to serve Carousell’s business and technology needs in his day-to-day activities”.
“Lucas led and built up Carousell’s tech function, before working with various business and engineering teams across Carousell Group to pilot re-commerce projects and build up the Malaysia auto re-commerce business. Lucas has been shifting towards an advisory role over the past months. The Carousell Group leadership team will continue to drive the business forward,” a company spokesperson said.
Carousell was founded in 2012 as a marketplace for pre-loved goods entrepreneurs by Siu Rui Quek, Marcus Tan, and Ngoo. Initially, the bulk of its transactions were from Singapore, but the company branched out to Malaysia and Taiwan in end-2014. In 2017, the company forayed into property and automotive listings.
The firm currently operates in seven markets and territories including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It also has offices in eight markets.
Carousell has acquired startups across emerging categories such as streetwear (OxStreet), used phones (Laku6) and secondhand clothing (Refash).
It booked $82.5 million in revenues for the financial year ended December 31, 2022, a 67% increase from the previous year. However, the company’s losses widened in the year as expenses also rose, show regulatory filings.
The company joined Southeast Asia’s unicorn club after raising $100 million in 2021 from STIC Investments, a South Korea-based private equity investor, at a valuation of $1.1 billion. Its other backers include Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund and NH Investment & Securities.
In September last year, Carousell opened its new regional headquarters, Carousell Campus, dedicated to advancing recommerce capabilities as part of its goal to make buying and selling secondhand items more trusted and convenient.
DealStreetAsia has reached out to Carousell for comment.